Electro Oil Sterling oil fired boiler won't restart

[cl]

We have a fairly standard (I think) Electro Oil Sterling oil boiler running a very small (three radiator) CH system on our boat. Last weekend my wife forgot to turn the heating off, as she normally would, while she was away from the boat. So it was left to run on the timer over the weekend, it runs (or ran) fine normally this way during the week.

However when she came back this week she found the boiler had turned itself off and refused to restart. When you turn it on it makes a couple of noises and then the red light on the Bentone box next to the Electro Oil Sterling bit flashes. The red light goes on, then flashes five times after which the sequence repeats. We don't have any instructions so it *could* be simply that we're not doing things in the right sequence to restart the boiler.

Any/all help would be welcome.

[cl]

It doesn't sound like it's trying anything much. My problem is lack of any sort of manual so I don't really know how I'm supposed to restart it.

I've found a description of Bentone bit, I think the flashing lights are trying to tell me why it shut down. However I can't find any sort of instructions on how to reset it to try again.

[Tim+]

This page any use?

[Michael Chare]

Can you work out what Bentone burner it uses:

You may then be able to get manuals for the burner online.

In the meantime look for any reset buttons on the burner itself or part of the boiler 'cos it's got to hot.

[johnjessop46]

Something amiss there. If the burner fails to establish a healthy flame the control should take it to lockout with no further attempt to fire until the lockout reset button is pressed. Check the input to the burner is of the correct polarity as some burner controls exhibit the symptoms you describe if L & N are reversed. As to the cause of the failure have you run out of oil?

[cl]

Yes, exactly what happened. The trouble is/was that we have no instructions to tell us about the lockout reset. The cause of the lockout was a loss of mains power for a few hours (the clock was a couple of hours slow when I looked).

When I pushed the reset button on the Bentone and powered up again all was well.

I'd just like some proper instructions on how it's all supposed to work.

[johnjessop46]

Generic "working" of a simple oil boiler (conventional flue without run on timer) - Power applied to burner via external controls and boiler thermostat (also a ny boiler overheat thermostat with normally closed contacts). Most sequence control boxes check no flame present before one should be the re, Burner motor starts and in some units ignition arc starts simultaneousl y others after short delay. The fan runs to purge the combustion chamber. T he oil pump runs with the motor but no oil delivered until the purge delay expires when the oil solenoid is energised open and oil is sprayed into the chamber past the ignition arc which lights the oil flame. The light of the flame is detected, the arc turned off and the flame continues to burn unti l the heat demand is satisfied when the thermostatic controls remove power from the burner. If a too early light is detected the sequence control goes to "false light lockout" If a proper flame is not detected shortly after the oil solenoid o pens the sequence control goes to lockout. In lockout the burner stops, an alarm light illuminates and resetting requires manual reset. Occasional failure to ignite can happen but if more than once in a blue moo n further investigation is required.

[cl]

Thanks. As I said I think our failure was provoked by a loss of power, it could have happened during an ignition sequence which might have made it cause the lockout.

We don't seem to have an alarm light as such, just the sequence of flashes on the Bentone box (or is that what you meant by alarm?).

When I restarted/reset I just held the reset button in on the Bentone while powering up, it continued to flash its alarm sequence for a while but then decided all was well and went quiet. Would the normal manual reset be to power up and then hold the reset button in for a while or should one power up with the reset button in, or doesn't it matter?

[johnjessop46]

Loss of power shouldn't cause lockout but a flickering failure might upset things. Normally a loss of power should be interpreted as an end of demand condition with retry on power restoration. Without knowing exactly which mo del of Bentone control box you have I can't be more specific. Are there any numbers or type labels such as TF801 for example? That would indicate a re badged Satronic control. Typical alarm display is the reset button lights up but often a repeater li ght is mounted on the front of the boiler.

[johnjessop46]

This link might be helpful in understanding the workings of an oil boiler

[cl]

No light on the front of our boiler. I'm away from the system at the moment so can't tell you the details of the Bentone.

I realise loss of power *shouldn't* cause lockout but it might have been repeated etc.